My Tattoo

This is a presentation about a tattoo design I have made. We were given the task of designing or creating a tattoo or ornament of some sort to show our family ourselves and our culture. I present my Tattoo 'Ko Whanau toku Taonga'.

Extension Learning Update - Understanding of the 'Tatau'

For the past couple of weeks, our year 7&8 extension group have been studying about symbolism and the understandings of motifs. We also have learnt a lot about the traditional Samoan ‘Tatau/Pe’a’.

 Not so long ago, we had the wonderful Mr Telea come into class and show us his very own Tatau. He gave us a very detailed and good understanding about it. He also told us what it meant. Mr Telea mentioned that if his Tatau was to be unravelled and put onto a piece of paper, it would look like a big bat. I was surprised when he told us that little bit of information.

And now, we have been assigned to creating our own significant tattoo or piece of art that includes our family, and culture. I am almost finished a tattoo design that has my family, my cultures and me all in one. I hope to finish it with great passion and love so maybe one day I can get it on me.

Camp Reflection

This camp was so amazing and I didn't want to leave. It was at Marsden Bay up north. All of the year 8 students of Pt.England school attended this camp.

 We spent four days at Marsden Bay camp in Ruakaka. Over all of the days, we did many amazing activities. Such as, kayaking, archery, roasting marshmallows, cooking eggs in an orange, completed a concourse (Confident Course) etc.

 Among those activities, we had inside games, movie nights, and group competitions. I couldn't believe at how much fun we had when doing our inside games. But my favourite game of all was sock’off. Man that was one aggressive game.

 Most inside games were played on the second night of camp. That was the movie night. We watched “Here comes the boom”, and boy what a crack up movie that was. I enjoyed it alot, just like I did the rest of camp.

 My favourite night at camp was the last night. We had a  lovely dinner followed by a lovely camp fire with lovely singing from all of the camp groups. I favourited it because it brought everyone that little bit closer to eachother. It was just everyone sitting next to one another and enjoying it instead of moaning and complaining because they were different. It brought a peace to the group that I had never seen before.

 And that peace bond carried on through to the last day of camp. What a good day that was. We packed up camp and heading down to Waiwera for our final stop before going back to school.

 After spending a couple of hours at Waiwera, we headed back to school. That camp would have had to be my most memorable one. Not only because it was my last one at Pt.England but I got to spend it with my closest friends. A camp never to forget.

Different start to the term

Day one of term 4 was a big change. Walking through the school gates, I for some reason felt like our class had changed… Again.

Assembly had finished, and I was going to class. Turning in through the doors, I see two classes in one space. A space that looked like a classroom.

And as soon as I knew it, we were all working together as one class. Class 5 and my class (class one), had been merged together and put into one. It was weird when we started off. Working with 30 other kids in one class. But I got use to it.

 Its a different way to start and end my term 4 intermediate days.

Cross Country

Walking to the starting line, I felt nervous and worried. Not quite sure why, but I was. Feeling frustrated, I start to think, “Have I practise hard enough for this?”. GO!!, and my feet  run away from the start line. “Lets just jog and preserve our energy”, my friends and i agreed.

 While I was running, I could tell I was really unfit. As hopeful as I was, I said to my friend, “Lets try and jog the whole way aye”. My calf muscles were tightening and I started yelling in pain!

 Teary eyed, I kept going with my head held high. In sight, I see Mrs Nua and my friend Mele walking back. “Tyla are you alright?”, Mrs nua asked. I replied faintly with a yes hoping she wouldn’t see my tears. Both Mrs Nua and Mele keep walking while my friend Lisia and I finish the lap.

 It had to be the most annoying cross country ever. Only because my muscles were playing up.

Self Management Task: Reflection

After finishing our self managing task, we were to finish it off properly with a reflection. I personally think we did an outstanding job. As part of our self management task, we were given the task to make a movie sending out a good strong message. Marking my self out of 10, based on self management, I’d give myself a 8 out of 10. Simply based on my acting that I contributed, I helped plan and stood by and observed the process of editing. But although I worked hard, there were times where I did muck around a little and got caught up in the moment when I was MJ.  In terms of managing our selves, we did an outstanding job. We stuck to the criteria and outstanding MTV in the time given, great lip syncing and awesome editing! I loved it, but mostly impressed by your ability to manage yourselves

College...ARRGGH!

Me. A girl of leadership, honesty, many talents and much happiness. All of what I have learnt at Pt.England School. Soon, I will be leaving Pt.England for secondary school, which I am very afraid of. Although I've learnt alot at my school, I still feel there is much more I need to learn before I take off.

  Secondary school seems so BIG. The learning, students, subject, all seem big. I cant get over the thought that in 15 weeks, I will be finished intermediate and off to college. Choosing ONE college of many was probably one of the most frustrating and challenging decisions ever.

  I had to think about what I would want to determine and what school would help me do that. Performing Arts is what I desire, so that would've had to be first on the 'This school needs' list. There was a variety of schools to choose from, and for a couple of weeks, I was having trouble choosing between two schools. Selwyn College, (Which my brother goes to), and Auckland Girls Grammar School.

  Selwyn College had all of what I wanted in a school, and I new quite a lot of students from that school. But AGGS, (Auckland Girls Grammar School), had all of what I wanted in a school, plus a maori unit. A maori unit is like a mentor class but instead of learning everything mainstream, you learn i te reo maori. Meaning if I go there, I will most probably be getting taught in maori instead of english, along side the normal subjects taken in college.

  As I am so passionate about my culture and eager to learn more about it, I decided to apply for AGGS. I still have to go in for my interview, which will happen tomorrow. As nervous as always, I feel like if I be me and relax, I will get it. Fingers crossed for me.... :D

Self Management Task

They Don't Really Care About US! from Team 5 PES on Vimeo.

In my class, we are learning about self management. We were given a task to see if we were good at self managing ourselves.

This is a movie created by my friends and I. We were given a time to complete this task to see if we could self manage our selves well. If I was to mark our group on how well we selfmanaged ourselves, I would give us a 9 out of 10.

Dandy Shandy Presentation

Dandy Shandy is a game that is something like ‘Dodgeball’ and ‘Piggy In The Middle’ combined. This is played mainly but children but is most popular with the younger girls in Jamaica. It is one of the more popular games in Jamaica.

Storyline Tours: Reflection

What a week I had last week, traveling out to Manukau to listen to authors speak at the Storyline Tours. There were four authors, but out off all of them, my favourite authors were, Juliette McIver and Paula Green. I enjoyed these two because of their interaction with the audience.

  The way they presented themselves on stage was funny, creative and enjoyable. Their story telling was what I enjoyed the most.

  The two authors gave good advice and criticism on how to become an amazing writer. I wouldn't say they gave me inspiration to become an author but they gave me inspiration to write in my own style of writing.

  What I would've done different though was either make a song with my story or act out a story. I reckon that would've made it really fun and interesting. Thats what made last years Storyline tour interesting.

  Overall, I really enjoyed all of the authors and the way they told us their stories. A note to the authors would be  keep doing what your doing, because what your doing is great.

My Mascot

This term, my class were to create our own mascot that would be in the commonwealth games held in New Zealand. It had to have features that would signify it as a New Zealand based mascot.

  This is my mascot Ma Kapua. His name means white cloud because, New Zealand is the land of the long 'white cloud'. Ma Kapua looks like a tiki because tiki have been apart of New Zealand forever. The colours are the New Zealand Maori colours. Ma Kapuas head is white like the long white cloud, and the black and red and on the first New Zealand Flag that had maori and pakeha mixed together. That is what my mascot means and is.

My Life Ed Notes

In class, we were told to write an effective paragraph. Not about anything though. It had to be about what had recently been learning about in the Life-Ed Caravan. DRUGS.

 The most common crime committed this century is taking drugs. Whether it's smoking marijuana or sniffing cocaine, they are all whats called crimes. One of the most known drugs is Marijuana. The more informal names for marijuana are weed, pot, tinnies, herb and grass.  It is one of the gateway drugs and is a must not in all areas of the world.

Storyline Festival Info

Later this week, authors, (Catherine Mayo, Jill Macgregor, Juliette MacIver and Paula Green), will be talking about themselves and their couriers at the Storyline Festival in Manukau. They will also all be talking to us about literature and most probably giving us lectures about writing and what it takes to become an author.

 Juliette MacIver, author from Wellington, attended the Victoria University and got a diploma for english teaching and completed a degree in linguistics. Her writing courier offloaded after writing her first book ‘Marmaduke Duck and the Marmalade Jam.’ She has written four books and is now a professional author.

Jill MacGregor born in Dunedin has been a VSA teacher in Tonga and is now a School Journal writer. She has had a lot of experience in the pacific island and she has put her experience into her books.

Catherine Mayo, writter and musician has produce many books just like the other authors. She tends to write books suited for young adults/teens.

Paula Green, is a childrens writer and poet. She has written five collections of poet and was awarded the University of Auckland Fellowship in 2005.

 At the Storyline Festival, I will mostly be looking forward to listening to Catherine Mayo. Just because her books and type of writing looks and sounds like my style of writing.

Last Astria to Countdown

Today was the last day to finish Astria Countdown to Impact and it was fun. I got to finish finding the info and giving it in to the council. It was hard trying to please them but I got it in the end. We had to choose one source to try and stop the asteroid. I use the solar sail thrust to stop them and I got a score of 75%.

I really enjoyed the game and I would love to play it again some day.

Astria Countdown to Impact: Day Three

This was the last time Ana and I played and we had already found all the clues and right information we needed to hand to the council. We were having a little bit of confusion on what to do next so we didn't really know what to do with the information. I think my partner Ana and I missed a bit of information in the early stages but overall the game was quite good.

  I really enjoyed playing it and I would highly recommend it to others because it is challenging but fun  game at the same time. Unlike most games when you click on a button, it does it itself, you have to do things your way which I think is really cool. All in all the game was good. 

Astria Countdown to Impact Trial

Today in extension, we had the greatest opportunity to try out a new game called 'Astria Countdown to Impact'. It was created by a man named Stephen Knightly from INGAME. We were trialling the game for people from AUT.

  The game was about you becoming an Alpha Leader and having to build a spaceship to go out and stop an Asteroid that was heading towards planet Astria.

  The game itself was really really cool. I enjoyed everything about it from the characters to the making your own ship and also the little information we had to find. But overall in the whole entire game, I really loved talking to the characters, (even though they had no voice).  Me and my partner pretended to be the other characters and that made me feel like I was in Astria which was pretty cool. The overall game is just amazing.

  It would soo beat the other games we play in class like mathwhizz and cool mathgames. It had some challenges that were really fun and I enjoy it a lot.

My Athletes Point of View at The Commonwealth Games

Walking in the stadium, my heart beats out of time. I'm nervous and my stomach twists and turns like a washing machine. Readying myself, I look to the crowd. Botswana supporters yelling and chanting, with their flags chaotically waving in the air.

 With the other runners alongside me, we get ready in our lanes. “READY!!”, I here from a man on the sidetrack. Bending down, I do as he said. My bodies ready, my minds ready, and even my shoes are ready. “SET!!” . My minds racing my body…. Its going to fast for me to concentrate. The man pulls the trigger and the gun goes bang!!. Just like me. Off I was shooting through the track like a bullet from a pistol.

 My legs leap for a fast far start and my legs follow behind each other in a fast and steady pace. I look ahead and see everyone ahead of me. I couldn't believe how useless I was doing. Picking up the pace, and one by one I pass all the runners and get to the front. About twenty metres from the finish line, I sprint faster than ever and beat the world record.

 That was one of the best races in my life. Also one never to forget.

Eric Finau

Eric Finau ex Pt.Englander, is competing in the 2014 Glasgow commonwealth games. I have chosen to follow him during the Commonwealth Games 2014. He will be competing in the boxing sport. 

After fighting in china, Finland, Serbia Australia and England, he was then qualified to play in the commonwealth games. Eric has been through a lot to get himself to where he is now. He had to lose 13kgs in 2 weeks to qualify for the games. Because of passion and desire for boxing, Eric put in all the work he possibly could.

Smart Footprint

This is  a little movie my friends and I created about being cyber smart. It teaches kids how to be safe and sensible online in a cool creative way. Hope you enjoy.

BAR Key House Transformation

These are two houses that were transformed using the BAR key. The BAR key is apart of 20 other thinkers keys. The extension group had to draw a house then rotate around the computers and let others change it using the bar key. B in the bar key stands for bigger to make big or enlarge something. A stands for add and R for Replace. 

This is the original house I created that got transformed to the below picture. 

This is the transformed picture using the BAR keys. The thing somebody made Bigger was the chimney so it could release more smoke and santa could fit. The thing that got added was the colour violet which was the Replaced with the plain bricks because someone thought that the different colours were weird.